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I recently wrote an article on what are 5 things you don’t need to buy for your new baby. I thought I would share those thoughts with you to see if you guys agree.

I remember going in to Babies R Us when I was pregnant thinking we would go in and pick out some needed baby things, add them to a registry and hope to see those items again at my baby shower. Who knew that you need to plan several shopping trips and LOTS of research to figure out what you do and don’t want for your baby?

Unfortunately I can’t take away your need to do research, but I may be able to save you a few minutes and save you a few dollars, by pointing out a few simple things that you simply do not need when preparing for a baby.

Expensive Crib Bedding

When shopping for your nursery “theme”, the crib bedding often takes center stage. Just remember that as adorable as that is in the crib, most of it needs to come out of the crib before the baby can go in. I remember “needing” the Alphabet Pooh bedding set, at more than $300 over 12 years ago, only to be totally disappointed that the comforter and other ‘accessories’ had to go before the baby could be placed in the crib to sleep. The comforter became a wall hanging and the other items just seemed to disappear after a while.

Strollers for Every Activity

Bottom line, you do not need a different stroller for every day of the week. Figure out what you will really use a stroller for, and choose one decent stroller for most activities. You may also opt for a small stroller that can be used for quick errands, or a really good jogging stroller IF you really jog. If you will just be going for a walk around the block with baby, you don’t need a $500 jogging stroller – no matter how much you think you need one…

Diaper Genie

We had one when my son was a baby, and honestly used it for a pretty long time. Problem is, you are storing wet and soiled diapers in it for quite a while. (Don’t kid yourself about promising you will empty it often – they are a pain to empty so you won’t empty it nearly as often as you would want to.) After a while, it’s gonna smell and there isn’t too much you can do about it. Save yourself the hassle and just throw the diapers away in your normal trash. Wrap any soiled diapers in tin foil to reduce the smell in your trash.

Baby wipe warmers

Baby wipe warmers can be very tempting, but all they really do is dry out the baby wipes too quickly. You can either rinse the baby wipes in warm water in the sink prior to changing baby, or you em in your hand for a few seconds – your body heat will do the trick quite nicely.

Too Many Baby Clothes

You change a babies clothes pretty frequently, but not so frequently that you need to have mountains of clothes ready for them to wear in every size. And please watch the excessive ruffles on baby girl dresses. Crinoline should be reserved for older girls dresses or special occasion dresses that are fully lined (such as Baptismal gowns). Announcing the gender of your child before birth is sure to send many of your guests out to buy as much pink or blue clothing items as they can. Take a hard look at what you have for your baby – especially small sizes – and try to return some of it before the baby is born. You can save the store credit for later use. It’s also helpful because you really don’t know what size your baby will need. Big babies in our family have always flown through newborn and 3 month sizes and were wearing 6 month clothing at a pretty young age.

Can you think of any items that new parents may be tempted to buy, but may later on find unnecessary? Please share those items in the comments section.

Anne-Marie Dunn is the Owner of www.BaptismalGownsPlus.com. We specialize in Baptismal and First Communion Apparel for both boys and girls.

One of the many functions I hold within the Little League Organization in our town is running the annual fundraising dance. Since the purpose of this event is to get the parents together for a night of fun, it is also ultimately to raise money for the league. Because of this, I am always looking for easy, but economical – OK, OK, I’ll say it – CHEAP decorations. This event is held on the back deck of the clubhouse of a golf course in town. They have a huge covered deck that is perfect for holding 200+ people outside, but is covered in case of inclement weather.

This year, the decorating committee – all 2 of us – decided to make paper Poms out of tissue paper. Here’s how you can make them for any event you may be having.

Supplies Needed:

12 pieces of tissue paper – one color or multiple colors – cut into 18“ x 20” sections (or whatever size you’d like, just not a square as that’s the most difficult to manipulate into a full Pom).

Floral wire (cut into 10” – 12” lengths)

Curling Ribbon (ours was cut at a 72” length – depending on where your Pom will be hung, you can make this ribbon longer or shorter. If you aren’t sure what length you will need, you are better off to leave the ribbon on the longer side.)

What To Do to Make the Pom Pictured Above:

Step1: Alternate two pieces of colored paper with 2 pieces of white paper – for a total of 12 pieces of tissue paper.

Step 2: With the shorter side of the tissue paper facing you, fold ‘accordion style’ in approximately 1 ¾” inch widths. The tissue paper we had was uneven at the edges so the accordion fan you end up with will not be perfect.

Step 3: Take a length of floral wire and twist it around the center of the tissue paper to secure the tissue paper. Do not ‘crunch’ the paper in the center – the floral wire is only there to make sure the accordion doesn’t come apart.

Step 4: Thread the length of curling ribbon through the floral wire wrapped around the center of the Pom. There is no need to knot this ribbon so it stays in place. Since we were transporting the Poms to a different location and then fluffing them, we did choose to put a quick knot to be sure the ribbon didn’t slip out during transit.

Step 5: Trim the ends of the tissue paper. We cut ours into a triangle, but you can make your edges rounded for a softer look. You need a good sturdy scissors to trim this since you are cutting 12 pieces of tissue paper that have been folded over many times… With a triangle shape you can just start from the edge and trim to the middle on both sides using straight cuts. With a round edge, you need to be careful that you can trim evenly around the end of the Pom. Trimming the edges makes the Pom appear ‘fuller’ by adding dimension to the edges.

This is where we stopped for the majority of the Poms until the day of our event. We chose to transport them flat to the venue and were going to “fluff” them that day. If you manipulate these Poms too much, like moving them from location to location before hanging, they will actually flatten out – especially if you can’t suspend them from the ribbon right away…

Step 6: Open the accordion fold on one side of the floral wire and make it look like a fan. Carefully fluff the Pom by separating each layer upward for ½ of the layers in your Pom. Tip – to get the fullest Poms, you will need to gently work to separate the layers of tissue paper right near the center – near the floral wire. You may need to play with these layers a little bit to separate the layers.

Step 7: Repeat on the other side so it looks like you have a ½ circle of fluffy Pom. Remember, you are working with tissue paper which is very thin and easily ripped. You need to be gentle. Every now and then, you will more than likely put a rip in the tissue paper. This is OK as you won’t be able to tell on the finished Pom.

Step 8: Flip the Pom over and fluff the other side. Be careful that you don’t completely smash the first ½ you fluffed. At the very end, you can certainly do a final ‘fluff’ to even out the sides and make it as round as possible.

Step 9: Hang your Pom from wherever you are going to and do a final ‘fluff’ to separate the edges and get your final fullness in the sphere.

Step 10: Enjoy!

Because the color combinations are only limited by the colors of tissue paper, this project is very versatile for any event you may be hosting. We think this would be perfect for a Baby Shower, Baptism party or First Communion party!

Take time to try this easy DIY project for your next event or get together and let us know how your Poms come out. We’d love to hear from you!